United Air forcibly removes passenger on overbooked flight

[CountryBoy19]

Removing the cap will delay flights longer. People will not agree to any price because they think there is always more money. When the airlines quits offering and announces the seat number(s) that must give up their seat then those interested in the last offer will ask if they can still get the money. People are a pain to deal with, especially when locked in a metal tube together.

No, people MAY hold out longer hoping for the bid to go up, but there will always be somebody that steps up. We all have a price, just because you and the person next to you won't step up for X, doesn't mean that that the person 3 rows up won't step up.

 

[ArcadiaGP]

No, people MAY hold out longer hoping for the bid to go up, but there will always be somebody that steps up. We all have a price, just because you and the person next to you won't step up for X, doesn't mean that that the person 3 rows up won't step up.

And if the airline offer is getting too high for them... they can just stop raising the offer and give up. Sorry, no one is getting off of this particular flight. Deal with it in another way. Use that money to get your employee on a different flight to their destination

 

[BehindBlueI's]

This is not a good week for United Airlines...

Scorpion stings man on United flight to Calgary

I'd rather be bounced off an armrest. Scorpions are super creepy.

 

[indiucky]

Scorpions are super creepy.

I hear ya bro....Ugh....It's like Saturday night at the Toy Tiger all over again......

 

[Fargo]

TWSS

Another observation: interesting that some people think that once they get to a place and stake out territory and feel settled in, they should be allowed to stay, even if they didn't have the actual legal right to be there.

Forcibly deporting dude from the plane, where he was not allowed to be, seems like it would be an INGO-friendly position.

Forcibly depriving a person of something they've already paid you for doesn't really seem like much of an INGO position...


I would wager that this whole thing wouldn't have blown up much at all if the airlines didn't have a policy of selling the same item to two people.

 

[Alamo]

I'd rather be bounced off an armrest. Scorpions are super creepy.

Been scorpioned several times. Like a bee sting but doesn't last as long.

Scorpions are amazing. They can live in the most godforsaken desert and thrive. You can also leave them at the bottom of a chlorinated pool for 24 hours or more, fish them up, lay them out to dry in the Sun....and when they do dry out the get up and walk away. Rugged.

 

[Libertarian01]

...the guy wasn't Chinese...

Totally irrelevant to the fact that Chinese people are PO'ed about what happened to him.

It is perception, not reality, that dictates public response.

Regards,

Doug

Caveat - This presumes the story I heard is true.

 

[Libertarian01]

Been scorpioned several times. Like a bee sting but doesn't last as long.

Scorpions are amazing. They can live in the most godforsaken desert and thrive. You can also leave them at the bottom of a chlorinated pool for 24 hours or more, fish them up, lay them out to dry in the Sun....and when they do dry out the get up and walk away. Rugged.

So... Which 'member' of the band was it???

You can trust me, I won't tell anyone.

 

[BugI02]

Forcibly depriving a person of something they've already paid you for doesn't really seem like much of an INGO position...


I would wager that this whole thing wouldn't have blown up much at all if the airlines didn't have a policy of selling the same item to two people.

[Begin virtual teal] You paid for travel between two points. You paid for 'a' seat, not necessarily 'that' seat. For the record, wanting the .gov to step in and tell the airlines how to run this aspect of their business doesn't seem like the INGO-friendly position either [end virtual teal]

 

[Alamo]

So... Which 'member' of the band was it???

You can trust me, I won't tell anyone.

I never can tell one from another in these new-fangled bands. Here's a good picture tho:

 

[Baditude]

Seems they were a little rougher than you people think: Concussion, broken nose and lost 2 front teeth - if that is true, now what's your position?
I think the officer's identities should be released to the public domain ASAP

David Dao, 69, suffered a concussion, broken nose and damaged sinuses and lost two front teeth when he was dragged off a flight Sunday to make room for United personnel, lawyer Thomas Demetrio said. He said Dao has been released from the hospital and is staying in a "secure" location.

United Airlines passenger dragged off flight suffered concussion, broken nose

 

[churchmouse]

Seems they were a little rougher than you people think: Concussion, broken nose and lost 2 front teeth - if that is true, now what's your position?
I think the officer's identities should be released to the public domain ASAP

David Dao, 69, suffered a concussion, broken nose and damaged sinuses and lost two front teeth when he was dragged off a flight Sunday to make room for United personnel, lawyer Thomas Demetrio said. He said Dao has been released from the hospital and is staying in a "secure" location.

United Airlines passenger dragged off flight suffered concussion, broken nose

At this point I am still not sure how much of a fight he actually put up.
Ran back into the plane past the gate and that will get most anybody tuned up these days.
Just to much info not coming to light.

 

[Fargo]

[Begin virtual teal] You paid for travel between two points. You paid for 'a' seat, not necessarily 'that' seat. For the record, wanting the .gov to step in and tell the airlines how to run this aspect of their business doesn't seem like the INGO-friendly position either [end virtual teal]

isn't that playing it more than a little cute considering that the airlines have been the beneficiaries of government bailouts, continue to be the beneficiaries of huge government subsidies despite being for profit organizations, receive near monopoly protections from the government, and have special rules where they get to make contracts and treat people in ways that other industries don't?

There was a reason that United's stock didn't blink on Monday despite the backlash that was being received. In my opinion that had primarily to do with that investors knew that the.gov money spigot wouldn't be turned off and it holds a sizable chunk of what is basically a monopoly. It wasn't until the foreign investor and expansion issues came into play that they started to get scared.

 

[Fargo]

Another thing that really sticks in my craw about this incident is that the police did not appear to be behaving at all like police during this incident. The police are there to enforce the criminal law and other violations against the government such as infractions or ordinances. They are not there to enforce people's contracts absent a court order.

For example, the police may not evict a tenant who is remaining unlawfully unless there is a court order of eviction. Vehicles that are in foreclosure don't get entered into NCIC/IDACs to be seized by the police as if they were stolen.

In this country, if you want the police to help enforce your contract, you pretty much always need to get a judge to say you're in the right first. That way the cops don't end up just strong arming innocent people who have never had an opportunity for a fair hearing.

In this case, the unarmed security cops who are supposed to be agents of the government are appear to be acting as if they are agents of the airline. Both parties to a contract are supposed to start out on equal footing in as regards the law, but in this case United appears to be using the police to enforce their civil remedies without even a hint of due process. That is not what the police are supposed to be doing.

I am going to guess that that has a lot to do with why the three officers are now suspended. The police are supposed to be there to protect and serve everyone, not to be the strong arm of for-profit corporations. I would guess it is really problematic for them that they weren't attempting to arrest him for violating a criminal statute but rather to eject him from the plane based on a contract issue.

 

[KittySlayer]

One solution to overbooking is to be certain the airlines do not lose money when people don't show up for their flight. That would mean no refundable/transferable tickets. I think there would be far more complaints of a No Refund policy than the small number who get beaten to a pulp when they get bumped off an overbooked flight.

It snowed and I can't get to the airport. FU Pay Me. My connecting flight was late. FU Pay Me. My mom died and I have to attend the funeral. FU Pay Me. My business meeting got rescheduled. FU Pay Me.

 

[Fargo]

One solution to overbooking is to be certain the airlines do not lose money when people don't show up for their flight. That would mean no refundable/transferable tickets. I think there would be far more complaints of a No Refund policy than the small number who get beaten to a pulp when they get bumped off an overbooked flight.

It snowed and I can't get to the airport. FU Pay Me. My connecting flight was late. FU Pay Me. My mom died and I have to attend the funeral. FU Pay Me. My business meeting got rescheduled. FU Pay Me.

In all honesty I don't really think we need to worry too much about the airlines losing what would appear to be a relatively insignificant amount of money when they are already hugely subsidized with our tax dollars and have been historically bailed out with our tax dollars as well.

 

[Denny347]

Forcibly depriving a person of something they've already paid you for doesn't really seem like much of an INGO position...


I would wager that this whole thing wouldn't have blown up much at all if the airlines didn't have a policy of selling the same item to two people.

I thought it was not that they sold too many seats, rather they had a full flight but needed to bump passengers for a crew to make it to their flight. If they didn't make it, they would likely have to cancel the flight. How much does it cost the airline to cancel a flight?

 

[Denny347]

Forcibly delaying a person of something they've already paid you for doesn't really seem like much of an INGO position...


I would wager that this whole thing wouldn't have blown up much at all if the airlines didn't have a policy of selling the same item to two people.

IFIFY

 

[actaeon277]

I heard on the radio that this video has gone viral in China, where United is/was(?) trying to expand. There were 120,000,000 views of this, and they are NOT happy.

So if just 10% of the viewers who watched the video fly that is 12,000,000 people. If just 10% of them refuses to fly United for ONE FLIGHT ONLY that is 1,200,000 seats of potential revenue down the drain.

Of course, sometimes we don't realize what the lesser of two (2) evils is when we're standing in the middle of the situation.

This also does not address how belligerent/defensive/hostile passengers will be in the future when the airlines wishes to "involuntarily deboard" the next passenger. It's called blowback friends, and it does happen.

Regards,

Doug

And letting someone stay that's having a hissy fit, and not deplaning him, can also have effects.

 

[actaeon277]

DANG IT.
I was going to stay out of this thread.